Cape Fear: The Different Visions of Two Directors

Universal Pictures released a movie in 1962 directed by J. Lee Thompson. It became a blockbuster hit. Almost 30 years later Martin Scorsese decided to put his spin on the classic. He too had blockbuster success. The movie is the infamous Cape Fear. 

Although the two versions of Cape Fear have many similarities, I will be concentrating on the differences. It is the differences in the films that I feel have the greatest impact on the characters’ motivation, their credibility, and the overall development of the movie. 

First, it’s extremely important to discuss major differences in three of the movies’ main characters: Sam Bowden, Max Cady, and Bowden’s daughter. In the earlier version, Sam Bowden was merely a witness whose testimony sent Max Cady to prison. This was the wrongdoing that brought Cady back for revenge. Bowden was portrayed as a good and honest family man. There are several scenes that make us form this opinion of him. A good example of Bowden's home-life is the scene in which the family is first introduced. His daughter runs out to greet him with a hug when he arrives home from work. 

His wife is affectionate and looks happy that he is home. When the family goes out bowling together the way they interact there also shows us the strong relationship between them. There is never anything in the movie that changes this first impression we have of Bowden being a good father and a loving husband. When he hires the men to beat Cady in the bar’s alleyway, we feel that Sam Bowden is a good man who has been driven to desperation in fear for his family’s safety. It isn’t as if Bowden is deriving some sort of sadistic pleasure out of having Cady hurt, he is trying this as a last resort, an attempt to make Cady leave them alone.